By Isanella Patoir
It has now been four years since Carlos Anderson, then 20-years-old, along with his friend Ronson Williams – a national footballer – disappeared without a trace.
Anderson’s mother, Carmelita Omega Pestano, believes he is dead and she longs for closure.
Pestano spoke with the News Room at her Melanie, East Coast Demerara home recently and revealed how she coped all these years without knowing what happened to her son.
She said she has always yearned to know what happened to him and believes that one day she will get answers.
Pestano explained that in March this year she visited the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters at Eve Leary and was told that the case is now being looked at as a “cold case.”
There have been no new leads in four years.
It was September 10, 2015. Maybe it was her mother’s instincts that told her something was wrong when her son did not return home; she tried calling him, but his phone was turned off.
“…it was a Thursday and he left to go to Georgetown and I [didn’t] get a call the night from him and I got worried because he is not a person that wouldn’t call.
“Around 9 that night I got a call and he said ‘Mom, I am on my way home’- and that was the last I heard his voice.
“Till up to today’s date I haven’t heard anything from him,” the mother said.
Initial investigations revealed that Carlos met with Ronson and they were last seen entering a silver-grey car in Bent Street, Georgetown heading to a football match that very evening.
“They had said that both of them were together at a point, but they can’t tell you what actually happened after then,” the mother noted.
Pestano said the months just after Carlos disappeared were some of the “hardest” in her life and no mother should have to go through that.
“When you wake up in the morning and you know you have children and you can’t find one, you think how could you make a turn, how could you start your day.
“But you have to put that will and make strong efforts and tell yourself ‘I will get answers.’ And I know that there is someone out there who is carrying a heavy burden.
“Just release yourself and help us – help the police. It is that one little evidence that we know we can have that breakthrough with that case.”
Carlos’s siblings have also struggled to cope with his disappearance.
They look for him when they walk down the streets and feel a little hope when they see someone that looks like him, even if it is for a brief moment.
Another pillar of support for Carmelita was her last child, Alliyah.
“I had gotten Alliyah the year before Carlos disappeared and every time I wanted to cry I would embrace Alliyah and look at her and the tears would automatically flow down,” the mother said.
While the police did their investigation Carlos’s family and friends searched high and low for him.
Carmelita said it was bittersweet and adventurous. They received calls and followed every lead – to Bartica and even to Suriname.
She said she has really appreciated the support from family, friends and neighbours and even the public.
“For the four years we want to thank them; we want to continue to thank them because they were great, every person or persons that came out with us.”
Prior to his disappearance, Carlos was accepted to work on Caribbean Cruise Line and was in the process of finalising his visa and contract.
